San Francisco-based Stronghold creates virtual networks that enable instant settlement and interoperability between legacy and new payment systems. With a focus on servicing businesses that have been "de-risked", Sean and his team combine defi and tradfi in innovative ways. We discuss merchant rewards, loyalty programs, impact investing, defi as a source of capital formation, and the future of stablecoins.

Who is ready to challenge the almighty Deribit in crypto options? Zug-based Phinom Digital is hungry for some market share. Ivan explains how a focus on compliance, risk management and institutions is the recipe for success. We discuss a fortuitous Bitcoin birthday gift, passport options, CeFi vs DeFi, and the current digital asset VC market. Make sure to tune in! 

Telegram: https://t.me/+S-qLEq8dyjE5MTE0

Twitter: @PhinomDigital https://twitter.com/phinomdigital?s=11&t=TxqqV_J1y7O_ILRTvmRC5g

Facebook: Phinom Digital https://www.facebook.com/PhinomDigital/

Instagram:@phinom_digital https://www.instagram.com/phinom_digital/

Hifi is a borrowing & lending protocol with a difference! Fixed rates - long elusive in DeFi - and a focus on integrating real world assets and regulatory compliance. Doug and I discuss: increasing competition in the debt markets, the role of NFT's in DeFi, abstracting blockchain away from the end user, and barrel racing horses! Make sure to tune in!

https://hifi.finance/
https://twitter.com/HifiFinance

Michal's trajectory into digital assets spans banking, telecoms, Eth mining,  a CEX, and an L1.  Now a hands-on venture investor at Arca, he offers our audience unique insights into what's hot in the space. We discuss analytics, web2.5, security, blockchain gaming and of course defi. Make sure to tune in and find out about some of the "breakthrough" themes of 2023!

https://twitter.com/MichalBene
https://twitter.com/arca
https://www.ar.ca/

How many software firms are looking to address the multi-trillion dollar funding gap to achieve international sustainability goals? Adam and his team at Bitgreen are looking to both bridge this gap with innovative green capital formation, and provide a home to other moonshots on its L1 blockchain. We discuss green bonds, greenwashing, the path to liquidity, regulations, gamified token sales and chickenhood, Make sure to tune in! 

https://twitter.com/adamcarv
https://bitgreen.org/
https://habbit.bitgreen.org/

As the public face of Tether, Bitfinex, and now also Holepunch, Paolo is arguably the most important man in crypto today.  You can't tell though, as he remains a down-to-earth techie with a passion for Bitcoin, economic freedom and simply making global financial infrastructure more efficient and accessible. We discuss the importance of the wrath of god in the creative process, how cloud is a lie, Keet as both the Bittorrent and Bitcoin of communications, DeFi (mixed feelings),  CBDC's, and a look into 2023.  

Ran (Goldi) Goldshtein gives us a brilliant look into life as an entrepeneur in crypto, the Israeli ecosystem, and of course the impact of blockchain on the payments industry. We discuss how the banks are finally there, and are implementing blockchain faster than any technology since the mainframe. How the future belongs to stablecoins and the respective roles of #cbdc 's, banks, Swift, Visa, Mastercard and of course #bitcoin  and decentralized #stablecoins. How Fireblocks acts as an enabler, and what we can look forward to in 2023. Make sure to tune in and be inspired by Goldi's passionate, yet levelheaded views on the industry. 

We all have heard of DAO's, but what are Decentralized Autonomous Companies, and what are they solving for? Elena describes her journey from Crypto Chicks - a crypto advocacy organization aimed at women - to Metis: a web3 economy platform cum Ethereum Layer 2, that allows startups and existing web2 companies to pay employees, raise capital, store data, and target new markets. Tune in to learn all about it, and learn what Metis has in store for 2023!

https://cryptochicks.ca
https://metis.io
https://twitter.com/MetisDAO

James is a long time investor in the crypto and DeFi space and is no stranger to market cycles. He shares his thoughts on the current landscape and explains where he sees opportunities and how he plans to deploy his dry powder. We discuss both the importance of decentralization and the need for regulations in CeFi, LedgerX (earlier sold to FTX), Polkadot, the UAE as a crypto hub, sustainable yields in DeFi, and what will get us out of the current downmarket. 

In this episode, Simon Schaber eloquently goes into some of the fundamentals of  the current crypto crisis, the role of regulators, and of course the FTX shenanigans in particular. 

In the short-term this impacts the whole industry. However, the  present belongs to the builders,  and the team at Spool is working on a DeFi protocol that promises risk-adjusted transparent yields for investors and valuable infrastructure for fund managers to build on-chain investment products. Tune in to learn about Freedom Dollars, DeFi SaaS, TVR, DAOs, tokenomics, and gasless self-balancing smart vaults on Ethereum L1!